Anybody who has ever written an essay (or the like) has grappled with the task of organizing various abstract ideas into a coherent linear written document. Along with style and content, the organization of a written document typically determines its effectiveness. The difficulty of this task may vary, even between people of similar intelligence, because of innate differences in how people think or view the world.
For example, spatial and sequential thinking are two different mental organizations that affect the way people view the world. Sequential thinking can be conceptualized as step-by-step linear thinking over time. By contrast, spatial thinking can be conceptualized as an holistic system in which all knowledge is interconnected in space. Auditory thinking is typically associated with sequential thinking and visual thinking is typically associated with spatial thinking. Historically, most teaching methods, presentation styles, and productivity tools have been developed for those people who are best suited to think and receive information in a sequential manner. However, dyslexics and others are believed to be typically better suited for receiving or compiling information spatially instead of sequentially. Moreover, such spatial thinkers are believed to constitute some of the most creative and entrepreneurial individuals in society. The present inventors have recognized that spatial thinkers can benefit from more effective tools that service their spatial thinking style and that interrelate their spatial thinking style with sequential documents. The present inventors have also recognized that sequential thinkers can also benefit from such tools—although creating well-organized linear documents may be easy for such individuals, they may still find it difficult to see the “big picture.”